Buffalo, NY and New York, NY–This afternoon, members of the Getting Our Money’s Worth Coalition responded to Governor Cuomo’s nomination of Kenneth Adams as president and chief executive officer of the Empire State Development Corporation.
Statement by Allison Duwe, Executive Director, Coalition for Economic Justice
Governor Cuomo’s nomination of Ken Adams as the head of the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) signals that the new administration’s approach to economic development will be business-as-usual. Adams, the President and CEO of the Business Council of New York, the state’s largest business interest group, has lobbied heavily against reforms that would ensure high performance, accountability and transparency in how New York spends its economic development dollars. As the new head of economic development in the state, we are concerned that he will continue to follow the failed strategy of increasing spending on corporate tax breaks at the expense of the majority of New Yorkers.
Statement by Matt Ryan, Executive Director, NY Jobs with Justice
With nearly one in ten New Yorkers still unemployed and many more struggling to support their families on low incomes, our state’s number one priority should be getting people back to work and creating good jobs that help speed our economic recovery. Business tax expenditures in the name of economic development are costing the state and local governments a total of $8.2 billion per year, but have often failed to create good jobs and broadly shared prosperity. We were encouraged to hear Governor Cuomo speak recently about overhauling the state’s economic development efforts, but his latest nomination for the ESDC reminds us that we must remain watchful so that job creation programs become more than just corporate giveaways and actually create the good jobs that New Yorkers need now.
##